Summary
The bestStar Warsbook of all time completely redefined the Force, and yet the ideas were quickly dismissed as a Sith trick. Partly inspired by the concepts of yin and yang, George Lucas envisioned the Force as something with a powerful sense of duality to it. Even the firstStar Warsmovie revealedDarth Vader had been “seduced by the dark side of the Force”(although it’s rather amusing to note this exciting idea was subverted in the prequels, essentially meaning “Anakin listened to the lies of a corrupt politician”).
There is, of course, more to the Force than either the Jedi or the Sith understand. That truth is central to the prequels, where the Jedi struggle to figure out what “thebalance of the Force” really means, andeven Yoda admitted the Chosen One prophecy could have been misread. But in 2002, one book in the oldStar WarsExpanded Universe- Matt Stover’sTraitor- actually dared to dive deep into the philosophy of the Force. It proposed a completely different take…
The 15 Best Star Wars Books Of All Time
Star Wars is far more than just a film phenomenon, with a staggering number of books published over the years. Here are the pick of the crop.
Traitor Transformed Our Understanding Of The Force
To understandTraitor, you really have to understand the story of the “New Jedi Order.” In 1999, Del Rey relaunched the range ofStar Warsnovels, with an ongoing narrative in which extragalactic invaders known as theYuuzhan Vonglaunched a devastating attack on the galaxy. In Troy Denning’sStar By Star, Coruscant itself was captured by the Yuuzhan Vong. One of Han and Leia’s children, Anakin, tragically died; another, Jacen, was captured by the Vong. InTraitor, he was transported to the reshaped Coruscant, where an enigmatic Jedi named Vergere attempted to transform him into something new.
The Potentium’s Teachings Turned The Jedi Into Something Else
By the end of the “New Jedi Order” range - James Luceno’s excellent novelThe Unifying Force- the entire Jedi Order had accepted the Potentium. They continued to follow these teachings in Troy Denning’sDark Nesttrilogy, and its impact became particularly notable there; Luke Skywalker even used dark sideForce powersat some points, exerting so much dark side power that he began to age in a manner reminiscent of Palpatine himself. But there was a problem with this philosophy.
It’s important to remember that the “New Jedi Order” story began in 1999, the same year George Lucas unveiled his vision of the prequels Jedi Order. The Expanded Universe had created Luke Skywalker’s Jedi Order with only basic guidance from Lucas, and it’s telling that this vision of the Jedi didn’t even include rules on attachment (Luke was married to former Emperor’s Hand Mara Jade, underlining the point). Lucas' prequels essentially redefined the Jedi… and his version looked a little too different to the one seen in the books.
Why Lucasfilm Ditched The Potentium “Heresy”
Ultimately, I think Lucasfilm concluded the post-NJO Jedi Order was simply too different to the one seen in the movies. Lucas had defined what it meant to be a Jedi, and it looked nothing like the Potentium; ergo, the Potentium must be wrong. The books walked back on this, calling it the Potentium Heresy, even going so far as toretcon Vergere as not a Jedi but a Sith who had manipulated Jacen to turn him to the dark side. Jacen, the champion of the Potentium Heresy, became the Sith Lord Darth Caedus in the “Legacy of the Force” series.
This whole story may seem like something of a historical footnote, given the “New Jedi Order” books aren’t canon anymore. But it’s still important, not only because Matt Stover’sTraitorremains such a compelling read and an intense exploration of the Force, but also because it offers a cautionary note to canon. Many viewers hope for Rey Skywalker to reform the Jedi Order, abandoning problematic tenets such as the Jedi view on attachment, but they must recognize the same thing Lucasfilm did back then; George Lucas has defined what it means to be a Jedi, and the core ideas must remain.
The mistake Lucasfilm made with the Potentium was allowing the entire Jedi Order to embrace this teaching. Had it remained the province of Jacen Solo, then he could have been simply an unusual character with a unique perspective on the Force; but under the Potentium, the Jedi became something a little too different to Lucas' vision, and so there had to be a radical course-correction. Lucasfilm will surely avoid repeating the same mistake with Rey’s New Jedi Order in canon, having learned from the experience. The next Jedi Order will be carefully designed to be famililiar toStar Warsviewers.
